UNC officials continue “cooperation” by declining to speak with WTVD plus random thoughts on local media…

General UNC Scandal36

We would like to give the folks from WTVD credit again. Last week, Mark Armstrong got this quote from UNC Chancellor Holden Thorpe:

‘You’re right. Nobody checked it, and I wish we had because we wouldn’t have said so strongly in the appeal hearing that the paper was his work.’

This week, WTVD apparently has followed up with UNC officials for interviews.

Full link.

Marvin Austin, who was one of the players kicked off the team for violating an NCAA ban on gifts, appears to be of the same opinion.

He’s moved on to a contract with the New York Giants, but he’s still a player in the UNC scandal – implying on Twitter that bending or breaking the rules for top athletes is far more widespread than anyone wants to admit.

Austin compared UNC to other schools and other coaches that have seen their share of athletic troubles, tweeting this Monday:

JULY 18 – 2:58PM

yeah, just like jim tresel, bruce pearl, rich rodrigez, and jim colhone didn’t know…just face it to be an elite in college athletics. U gotta bend the rules..oh yea let’s not forget oregon and auburn….yea butch has only been coachin for 20 year.

ABC11 put in multiple phone calls Tuesday to top school officials. No one would agree to an interview.

It is great to see a local media outlet digging for the story and publishing the results of those efforts. Even if UNC won’t give interviews, then UNC’s denial to cooperate is certainly newsworthy. As is a denial by UNC to cooperate with court orders surrounding the media’s request for public records such as Butch Davis’ personal cell phone if it was in fact used to conduct the state’s business

Would someone in the local media update us on the lawsuit regarding phone records and emails of persons involved in the scandal? If there is a court order to not discuss it or legal counsel is advising you not to discuss it, then just let us know. This is a fair request in our opinion.

And where is Butch Davis’ in all of this? Butch seems to have buried himself in a bunker. Anyone heard from Butch recently?

Meanwhile, another issue of the ACC Sports Journal has come and again there was hardly a mention of the scandal that has rocked Chapel Hill. A few paragraphs regurgitating the scandal in the UNC season preview, but none of the hardcore investigative journalism the publication became known for when it delved deep into the stories of former NC State players Tramain Hall and AJ Davis and how they “arroved” at NC State.

I have been reading the ACCSJ since I was a teenager and it is a shame that the one publication ACC fans could always count on to cover stories like this one involving UNC has sat on the sideline for the most part. The ACCSJ instead thinks we need another set of team previews that we can get from every other publication, fan site, and blog. Using team previews for the section focused on each school is basically a waste of an entire issue. I can get previews from everywhere. From the ACCSJ, I look for the team sections to discuss unique angles, behind the scenes stories, etc….things we don’t get from regular sources.

A suggestion for sports talk show hosts…when you ask a question to your guest, can you just cut yourself off at the end of the question and let the guest talk? We really don’t care who you have already interviewed that day, who is coming up, where you are hosting today’s show from, etc…we want to hear the guest talk. Especially when it is near the end of the segment and you are taking up 30+ seconds promoting your show right in the middle of the question taking away time from your guest.

JP Giglio of the N&O has been very active on Twitter recently. If you aren’t following Joe, then I certainly recommend it.

jpgiglio Joe Giglio
@
@tarheelfanblog Bottom line, she was still around the program because of Butch Davis
12 hours ago Favorite Retweet Reply

jpgiglio Joe Giglio
@
@tarheelfanblog Davis kept Wiley around, with her shuttling Drew to and from practice and school, after she was fired by the school

There has been a lot of good work done by various blogs and media outlets throughout the scandal. This particular piece written by Robbie Pickeral and Ken Tysiac was tweeted last night. Since this scandal has gone on for so long, I think reviewing previous stories to refresh our memories would help everyone’s perspective:

The football program’s former academic coordinator, Cynthia Reynolds, who worked at UNC for eight years before she was dismissed last summer, fits that description. Contacted by The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, she said she was concerned about approaching football coach Butch Davis when she heard that undergraduate Jennifer Wiley – who also was mentoring football players – was not only tutoring Davis’ son Drew, but also driving him around town.

Reynolds was worried that crossed a line of familiarity that is unacceptable. The academic support program has rules prohibiting tutors from socializing with athletes. Reynolds – who was reassigned away from football after seven years in the job in 2009 and was released in August, and then filed an age discrimination complaint against the school with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission last month – feared those same rules weren’t being applied in the Davis household.

However, “in my opinion, if I had gone to Coach Davis, my job would have been on the line,” Reynolds said.

Anyone remember that article? I wonder if the NCAA ever had a conversation with Reynolds? It would be really interesting to get a second interview with Reynolds since the McAdoo trial ended with total embarrassment for the institution that “dismissed” her after Butch Davis “arroved” in Chapel Hill.

General UNC Scandal

36 Responses to UNC officials continue “cooperation” by declining to speak with WTVD plus random thoughts on local media…

  1. wolfpacker 07/19/2011 at 9:35 PM #

    I do believe that some BEANS are going to SPILL SOON!

    Unless, some money is transferring hands and some people are being paid to be silent.

    I guess someone told Thorp that he sounded pretty much like he hadn’t done his homework when he said that he ‘wished’ someone had read the paper. I guess no one’s paper ever get’s read…if you were EVER in your life going to make sure you had your i’s dotted and your t’s crossed, wouldn’t that be going into a courtroom against a lawyer for the NCAA?

    These people really do BELIEVE they are above everyone else…that’s been the issue all along.

  2. highstick 07/19/2011 at 9:56 PM #

    We want some “pork” with those beans, Marvin.

  3. Wolf1975 07/19/2011 at 10:17 PM #

    This whole thing is kind of like wine, it just keeps getting better…The proverbial feces is about to hit the fan!

    side note…46 days till kick off!!!!!!!

  4. GAWolf 07/19/2011 at 10:22 PM #

    L.O.I.C.

  5. GAWolf 07/19/2011 at 10:25 PM #

    Oh Pinehurst should be an excellent show indeed!

  6. PackerInRussia 07/19/2011 at 11:12 PM #

    I think Marvin left the “s” off of “colhone”.

  7. MattN 07/20/2011 at 6:33 AM #

    When the local media turns on you, you are done….

  8. tuckerdorm1983 07/20/2011 at 7:42 AM #

    It is all a matter of math

    A Train leaves Indianapolis Indiana, the headquarters of the NCAA, with three NCAA commissioners headed to Chapel Hill, N.C. going 60mph. At the same time a train with Butch, Dick an Holden leaves Chapel Hill, N.C. heading out of town as fast as it can. Exactly one hour later Marvin Austin spills the beans. At what time does the NCAA drop the hammer on the athletic department at UNC-Chapel Hill?

    Answer: Soon and very soon.

  9. TruthBKnown Returns 07/20/2011 at 8:05 AM #

    They didn’t give an interview because they don’t HAVE to give an interview. They are full of arrogance and don’t feel the need to answer to the public. They have the majority of the BoG in their hip pocket, and know they won’t be forced to do anything they don’t want to do.

    This is not surprising. It is just one more example of corruption at the highest levels of our state government.

  10. Prowling Woofie 07/20/2011 at 8:07 AM #

    Maybe Big Marv and Black Santa will write a book…

  11. ncsu1987 07/20/2011 at 8:08 AM #

    I want so desperately to climb on the “can’t wait to see the mushroom cloud” bandwagon, but I just can’t make that leap. I look at the preponderance of evidence (proven and circumstantial) and I wonder how anyone without an obvious bias can conclude anything other than the entire chain of command is rife with corruption and over confident from entitlement. But then then little voice inside my head reminds me of all the times they’ve gotten away with…..well….everything, and cautions me about my own overconfidence. I hope I’m wrong, I want to be wrong, I PRAY that I’m wrong. Please feel free to blast away, but damnit I’ve just seen it too many times. I fear I won’t completely believe it until the punishment is rendered – which means, of course, that I’m missing out on a lot of the fun right now.

    And the really odd thing is that my wife tells me I’m the eternal optimist….go figure.

    Sorry for the briefness, but I gotta run back to the ship to show off my new tattoo…

    -Queequeg

  12. tuckerdorm1983 07/20/2011 at 8:28 AM #

    you gotta go hunt for a large water living mammal with the letters UNC on its side. I hope you get it before it gets you.

  13. ShavlikLeague 07/20/2011 at 8:58 AM #

    The NCAA is aware of Reynolds…whether they have interviewed her is another story. But they have definitely been made aware of Reynolds, I do know that.

  14. TheAliasTroll 07/20/2011 at 9:14 AM #

    all this coulda’ been avoided with sign out sheets

  15. Lsquare 07/20/2011 at 9:50 AM #

    Each day I look forward to more dirt from this scandal being revealed. I knew the day I read about McAdoodle’s lawsuit, the worm was starting to turn. Eventually there will be subpoenas for Ms. Wiley and others involved, and we will get all of the answers we have all craved for so long. I don’t believe they can continue to keep playing stupid for very much longer if this continues through the court system. Finally our media is starting to dig for details, like they should have all along.

    I haven’t had this much fun at UNC-Cheat’s expense since a beautiful April morning in 1977, the morning after the NCAA Basketball Championship game finals. Carolina was heavily favored to win and had breezed through the tournament, but came out cold in the finals and got trounced by Marquette.

    I still have the bumper sticker I bought on the Brickyard that morning on the way to class, and still laugh about it:

    “Linda Lovelace says Carolina chokes on the Big One”.

    Folks, there is a whole lot more fun ahead.

  16. packhammer 07/20/2011 at 9:52 AM #

    Hey 87 just relax and enjoy. 75 nailed it. And, like a fine wine we do not wish to guzzle the whole bottle just after opening. We wish to open carefully, airate properly, and then sip and savor. Oh and then we bust the empty bottle against the wall, cook a pig in the ground, and have a wild rompus butt kicking party.

    Worst case is that this drags into next Spring (or beyond) and continues to cast an ominous shadow on thier program and recruiting. Yes a mushroom cloud would be great but then they could begin repair quickly. I’m planning to enjoy watching them run the whole thing completely into the ground before getting serious about doing what needs to be done. Heck fire, Jennifer Wiley has not even been heard from yet. We are still in Act I of this little saga.

  17. golf76 07/20/2011 at 10:10 AM #

    BMFD is like Cheney, safe in an undisclosed location until the threat is under control. Hope he’s got lots of Cheetos!!

  18. DFMo 07/20/2011 at 10:39 AM #

    I don’t think anyone is gonna make Wiley or Blake talk unless they choose to do so voluntarily.

  19. packhammer 07/20/2011 at 10:52 AM #

    “Hopefully, the McAdoo case will not only expose this system but be the impetus for major reform,” Orr said.

  20. GAWolf 07/20/2011 at 10:57 AM #

    Im still giddy about the soundbite fest that will be undoubtedly rolling out of Pinehurst should Butch and Co show their faces….

    Has a head coach ever just no-showed that media event?

  21. Packfan28 07/20/2011 at 11:13 AM #

    ?? I don’t see Pinehurst as a big deal. He is simply going to say the investigation has not been concluded, and he has been instructed by the NCAA not to comment.

  22. ncsu1987 07/20/2011 at 11:16 AM #

    packhammer: I’m trying, I really am. And I will admit to lots of grins recently and some audible chuckling….

  23. Hungwolf 07/20/2011 at 11:32 AM #

    The editoral from the N&O appeared in Charlotte Observer today.

    Up until recently the media spin has been this was a few bad apples (players) and one bad hire that was fired, Black Santa. The NCAA was only invesigation players, not the school.

    Now we seeing the media, going after the school and its system. NCAA had to be very happy with this turn of events as it helps them investigate and promotes their existence in the media and eyes of the public. I think UNC is going to pay a heavy price for making the NCAA look like the bad guy and work nonstop to uncover all the worngdoing.

    UNC-Cheat has taken a we better than others caught, claiming they had systems in place and those systems are working. They should have already placed self imposed sanctions on the football program, cleaned house, and set up new committees to monitor the football program. Instead they have placed the entire burden on the NCAA, the media, and the UNC System. They Need to/should pay a heavy price!

  24. Gowolves 07/20/2011 at 11:35 AM #

    GAWolf,

    Several years ago Phillip Fulmer refused to go to a preseason media function in AL becuase he was going to served papers related to the recruitiing scandal between TN and AL. It was that lineman that was being bought. Someone else here may know the facts better than me. I think they sent a assistant coach.

  25. packhammer 07/20/2011 at 12:18 PM #

    By the way, there is a lot of hoo-haa on PP about the media’s failure to request the area code 216 phone records of Head Football Coach Butch Davis since his appointment. I am familiar with the Federal FOIA law but not the NC law. However, I believe that anyone could get the ball rolling by emailing Chancellor Thorp and asking him to provide the records under the NC FOIA. You should offer to pay whatever reasonable fees are necessary and to please let you know in advance if the fees are going to be above a certain amount that you would not be willing to pay. Your request might ask for any other specific guidance that may be needed to fulfill your desire to review these public records. Put FOIA Request in the subject line and ask for an acknowledgment of reciept.

    [email protected]

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